Screenshot uit '180 Amsterdammers: death edit', een korte film van Marjolein Frijling.
Tot Zover
180 Amsterdammers - diverse death
Ever since opening the museum showcases the funeral rituals of seven Dutch cultures.Obviously the story of death and cultural diversity is far from complete. In 2019 a short film by Marjolein Frijling was added tot the permanent exhibition. It is a special death edition of her project 180 Amsterdammers.
Marjolein Frijling was surprised to hear more than 180 nationalities resided in Amsterdam. She went to look for those, all born in different countries and she documented their life stories. It became her lifeproject. The interviewees also spoke about death. The preliminary question was: 'When you die, where would you want to be buried or cremated, in Amsterdam or your county of birth?'
'Certainly, I am going to live underground'
The prominent founder of an Amsterdam Mosque, Mohamed Echarrouti (1950-2022) was a bridgebuilder, representative, caring man, husband, father, uncle, granddad and also the face of Moroccon Netherlands.
He contributed to the 180 Amsterdammers death edit on show in the museum. 'Certainly, I am going to live underground!' he answered goodheartedly. In Moroccon soil as it happened late june 2022. But in his motivation Echarrouti showed good Dutch spirit. 'In The Netherlands you have to pay burial rights every 20 years, but in morocco thats luckily not the case. Once dead and buried, business is done." He peacefully returned to his Maker.
Religions have defined funeral rites. Still there a many differences within cultures and descent. Add to that personal preferences. Frijling made a compillation of 'death fragments' especially for Museum Tot Zover. They are beautiful, personal and universal stories too. Touching stories that make you think and ponder. They make clear how differently one thinks of his or her own funeral and how differently people live meaningful lives.
About the artist
Marjolein Frijling (1981) is a journalist and theatremaker. She studied Cultural Antropology at UVA and completed her directors training at the Dramaschool Maastricht in 2009. In her teens she moved more than 15 times. As a child she lived in Indonesia, Scotland, England and Oman. She thinks this is why she continualy seeks to understand different sociological and cultural correlations.
Follow her work:
www.marjoleinfrijling.com